Resonator



April 28', 1931. E. P. COLE RESONATOR Filed Feb. 1, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LEI/407 17557: lllas Pnawii'aa 0e 9? April 28,1931. E. P. COLE 1,802,593

RESONATOR Filed Feb. 1, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w! M 1 l "713] M7 WW Patented Apr. 28, 1931 ELLIS PRENTICE COLE,

PTENT QFFICE OF CHICAGC, ILLINOIS RESONATOR Application filed February 1, 1926. Serial No. 85,110.

This invention relates to resonators or sound amplifiers for radio loud speakers, or for phonographs, loud speaker telephones or other sound reproducing means requiring resonating or amplifying means therefor.

Generally stated, the object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved construction of resonator or sound amplifier, having a sound chamber of greater than ordinary length, gradually increasing in capacity from the smaller to the larger end thereof, adapted to increase the sound to the desired degree of volume or loudness, and at the same time to maintain the desired purity or quality of tone.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved construction whereby a relatively long sound chamber is reduced to a zigzag form and thus condensed within the sides of a rectangular body, one or more of the outer walls of which form one or more of the interconnecting compartments forming the said zigzag sound chamber of the said resonator or sound amplifier, thus in effect building the resonator within the six sides of a rectangular box, in order to combine compactness with a relatively long sound chamber.

Another object is to provide a novel and improved construction in which all of the walls of the sound chamber are flat and resonant, so that the desired quality of tone in a radio loud speaker or other amplifier is obtained.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction and combinations tending to increase the general efficiency and desirability of a resonator or sound amplifier of this particular form and construction.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, the invention consists in matters hereinafter setforth and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a resonator or sound amplifier embodying the principles of the. invention, showing some of the walls thereof broken away to bring into view certain interior parts thereof, for convenience of illustration.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on line 22 in Fig. 8.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section on line 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view with the top wall removed.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on line 55 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 66 in Fig. 2.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a rectangular boXlike body having the rectangular outer walls 1, 2 and 3, as shown. The sound chamber comprises 3 compartments connected together, forming a zigzag passage or tone chamber, and the first'compartment comprises the walls 4, 5, 6 and 7, which compartment tapers toward the left, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, to the rectangular transverse wall 8, having an opening 9 for the radio receiving instrument, or for any other sound producing means. This first compartment flares to the right, as shown in Fig. 3, and the sound waves are caused to impinge against an angular end wall 10, and then pass down between the vertically disposed rectangular end wall 11 and the edges 12 and 13 of the walls 7 and 14, respectively, said wall 14 being horizontally disposed as shown. This wall 14, therefore, forms the top wall of the second compartment, which latter compartment has side walls 15 and 16, which converge to the right as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, and a bottom wall 17 which is inclined as shown, together, with an angular short end wall 18 which connects the surface of the wall 11 with the upper edge of the said wall 17, whereby the sound waves travel to the right in the first compartment, in Fig. 3, then downward, and then to the left'in the second compartment. The third compartment receives the sound waves from between the edge 19 of the wall 15 and the rectangular end wall 2 previously mentioned, the sound waves in the second compartment impinging against the angular wall 20 and then against the angular wall 21 at the other side, while entering the third compartment, which lat ter is between the wall 15 and the outer wall 22. The third compartment flares to the right, as shown in Fig. 5, and the sound waves finally impinge upon the angular wall 23, and are deflected by the latter outwardly through the opening between the edge 2st of the wall 22 and the transverse end wall 25 arranged as shown. The wall 3 forms the bottom of the third compartment as shown, and the inclined wall 26 forms the top wall of this third compartment. Thus the sound chamber gradually increases in volume or capacity, from the smaller opening 9 to the relatively large rectangular opening formed between the edge 24 of the wall 22 and the outer edge of the wall 25 and between the edge 27 of the bottom wall 3 and the edge 28 of the top wall 1 of the boxlike rectangular structure thus formed. The horizontal wall 29 is fitted between the walls 15, 22 and 2 and engages the lower edge of the inclined wall 26, thus forming the top wall of the smaller end of the third compartment.

Thus the top wall 1 forms one side oi the rectangular boxlike structure and forms the top wall of the larger end of the third compartment; and the end wall 2 of the boxlikc structure forms one wall of the connection between the second and third compartments; and the rectangular bottom wall 3 of the boxlike structure forms the bottom wall of the third compartment; while the walls 11 and 25, which are in transverse alignment, and in the plane of one end of the rectangular boxlike structure, form end walls for the second and third compartments, as described. Thus, in effect, a zigzag tone chamber, "forming a relatively long air passage or sound chamber, is condensed within the si:-; sides of the rectangular boxlike structure, so that compactness is combined with greater length of sound chamber for the resonator or sound amplifier. As shown, every wall throughout the entire length of the zigzag tone chamber is flat, and is preferably made of wood or fiber or some other resonant material, so that it is resilient and therefore highly resonant and thus responsive to the sound vibrations to insure the desired resonant qualityol tone. The tone chamber, with the construction shown and described, is much longer than the tone chamberof'the ordinary radio loud speaker, or of any of the phonograph resonators or sound amplifiers heretofore proposed or used. With the boxlike structure thus shown and described, into which is built the zigzag sound chamber, it is possible to incorporate in the smallest possible space a constantlyenlarging tone chamber of sufficient length and proportions to reproduce a long range of tones from high to low, in a clear and loud and resonant manner.

It will be understood, of course, that wood or metal or other suitable material can be employed for the walls of the structure. It will also be understood that the structure is not necessarily supported in the position shown, but may stand upright with the walls 11 and 25 uppermost, so that the outlet for the sound will be at the top of the front side of the structure, if so desired, in which case the wall 2 will form the bottom of the structure. The boxlike structure thus shown and described can be enclosed in a cabinet (not shown) of any suitable form or design or construction, either vertically or horizontally, and the cabinet loud speaker thus provided may be a separate unit or structure, or it may be combined with a radio receiving set (not shown) in any suitable or desired manner,

without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The wall 15 formsa side wall of the second compartment, as well as a side wall of the thirdv compartment. The difierent walls may be glued or fastened together in any suitable or desired manner. The walls 4 and 16 may be intergral as shown, the wall 16 being in the plane of one long side of the rectangular boXlike structure, while the wall 4: is displaced inwardly to conform to the taper of the first compartment of the sound chamber, as shown. The wall 16 may rest at its lower edge against the wall 8, throughout its entire length (not shown), or as shown it may be cut away for the greater portion of its length and thus only engage the wall 3 for the distance between the lower edge of the wall 17 and the wall 2, and the other end of this wall 16 may engage the wall 11, as shown.

The final outlet for the sound, between the edges of the walls 1 and 8 and 22 and 25, is

in the plane of one long side of the rectangular boxlike structure, and consequently some wall or some portion of the structure occupies the plane of each ofthe six sides of the rectangular boxlike structure formed or approximated by the construction of the resonator in the manner shown and described.

The wall '1 will rest upon the upper edges of the walls 2, 11, 25 and 22, as shown, but it is obvious that the construction may be changed or varied, to suit the requirements, without departing from the spirit oi. the invention, and that the invention is not limited to the exact construction shown and described.

Thus, in cross-section, it will be seen that each of the three connpartments is rectangular, so that in cross-section the four sides of each compartment are at right angles -to each other. The sound travels through the first or smaller compartment untilit strikes the angle wall 10., and is reflected substantially at an angle of 45 degrees downward until the sound waves strike. the other angle wall 18 and the waves are then again reflected at practically an angle of 45 degrees and travel horizontally until they strike the angle wall 20 at the other end of the structure. Again, and from the wall 20 the sound waves are reflected at substantially an angle of 45 degrees until they strike the angle wall 21 at the other side and from here the sound waves are reflected at another angle of substantially 45 degrees and caused to travel horizontally until they strike the end wall 25 and the angle wall 23. From the latter they are again reflected at an angle of 45 degrees and caused to pass outward through the opening between the edges of the walls 24: and 25, as previously explained.

The first and second compartments are'in the same vertical plane, or in the same plane, depending upon the position in which the structure is supported, While the third compartment is in another parallel plane, but it will be seen that the larger or outlet end of the third compartment is not only in the horizontal plane of the second compartment, but also extends upwardly into the horizontal plane of the first compartment, assuming the structure to'be in the position shown in the drawings. Thus the sound waves, in passing from the second compartment into the third compartment, travel in a direction substanti ally at right angles to the direction in which the sound waves travel in passing from the first compartment into the second compartment. The entire tone chamber or passage for the sound waves tapers gradually from its larger end to its smaller end, but this does not necessarily mean that the taper is constant, for each compartment may have a different degree of taper, of course, without departing from the spirit of the invention, the important thing being to keep the waves inovin in the right direction and to revent any mufiling of the sound, so that the object of the invention will be realizet, which is the amplification of the sound to a considerable volume, and the insuring of purity and good quality of tone, particularly with respect to the use of the invention as a radio loud speaker. If the walls 10, 18, 21 and 23 were curved, many benefits of the invention would still be obtained, but it is found that straight walls are better, and this is especially true in the case of the wall 23, for here the sound waves must be deflected outwardly through the opening between the walls 24 and 25, and with straight walls there is less muffling of the sound and better reflection of the sound waves in a manner to insure both loudness and clearness of tone.

lVhile the general form of the resonator. as shown, is that of an oblong parallelepipedon, or approximately so, it will be understood that the structure might assume the form of cube, by changing the proportions, although the proportions shown in the drawings are preferable, as they are found to insure better results. 7 i

It will be seen that the first and second compartments are in one and the same plane, and that the second and third compartments are in another plane extending at right angles to said first mentioned plane. Also, and because the third or last compartment is expanded at its outlet end portion, it follows that this outlet end portion and the first or smallest compartment are in a plane extending parallel with the second mentioned plane, and in this way an oblong structure is formed having its inlet at one end of the structure, and having a lateral outlet for the sound waves in the other end portion of the oblong structure. In this way the sound waves enter the oblong structure at one end thereof and straight ahead in the first or smallest compartment, but depart laterally from the side of the other end portion of the oblong structure, in the manner explained.

It will be seen that the structure as shown and described is substantially a six sided rectangle. However, the invention, in its broader aspect is not limited to a structure which is actually a six-sided rectangle, as it is obvious that the walls which are actually essential for the formation of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd compartments can be employed or embodied in any suitable or desired structure, regardless of whether or not the structure is in reality a six sided rectangle, without departing from the spirit of the invention. However, assuming a space in the form of a six sided oblong rectangle, it will be seen that in any event, a plurality of the outer walls of the three compartments will form a plurality of the outer sides of the rectangle. For example, in any such assumed rectangle, the walls, 1, 2, 3, 11, 16 and 25 will fall within the planes of the corresponding or equivalent sides of the rectangle, and the entire structure is within such assumed rectangle. In other words, at least a plurality of the outer walls of the structure are in the planes of at least a. plurality of the sides of an assumed rectangle, regardless of whether the entire structure is in fact a six sided oblong rectangle; and hence, the invention in its broader aspect is not limited to the structure shown and described.

Without disclaiming anything and without prejudice to any novelty disclosed, what I claim as my invention is:

1.'A resonator comprising walls providing successive compartments forming a more or less zigzag or back and forth passage for the sound waves, said passage gradually increasing in volumne and capacity from the smaller to the larger end thereof, and a plurality of the outer walls of a plurality of said compartments forming a plurality of the sides of an assumed six-sided rectangle enclosing the entire resonator.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said body being oblong with the wall at one end thereof forming the outer wall of the connection between the second and third compartments of the air passage.

8. A sst'rnictureasspecified in claim 1, said body being oblong, with the outer wall (11) of the connection between the first and second compartments in the plane of one end of said rectangle, and with an end wall for the larger end of the third compartment also in the plane of the same end of 'said oblong rectangle.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, the said body being oblong, some walls of said zigzag sound passage being in the planes of the two ends .and three of the sides of said rectangle, while the outlet for the sound Waves is in the plane "of a fourth side of the oblong rectangle.

'5. A structure as specified in claim 1, all of the walls of said passage being flat and resilient and thereby resonant.

6. A structure'as specified in claim 1, some of the walls of said sound passage being fiat, and each compartment of the zigzag passage being rectangular in cross section and tapered in longitudinal section.

7. A resonator structure having opposite ends and comprising .flat resilient and resonant walls forming successive compartments, tw-oalternate compartments having their inlet ends at one end of said structure, and an intermediate compartment having its inlet end at the other end of said structure, forming in effect a zigzag sound passage, the interior of said passage made up entirely of fiat surfaces formed by resonant walls, a plurality of said compartments having walls forming outside Walls of said structure.

8. A structure as specified in claim '7, each compartment of the zigzag passage being rectangular in cross-section and tapered in longitudinal section.

9. A structure as specified in claim 7, a plurality of the walls of said passage being in the planes of the sides of an assumed sixsided rectangle enclosing said passage.

10. A resonator having a sound passage gradually increasing in size and capacity, to amplify the sound, formed by a plurality of walls, forming three successive compartments, and one wall forming a partition between the second and third compartment, the first and second compartments being side by side, each compartment being tapered gradually, and a plurality of said compartments having walls forming outside walls of said resonator.

11. A structure as specified. in claim 10, in which all of said walls are flat and resonant.

12. A structure as specified in claim 10, in which all of said walls are fiat and in which two or more of the walls are in the planes of the sides ofan assumed six sided rectangle enclosing the other walls.

l3.- A structure as specified in claim 10, said partition being flat and resonant, and a plurality of the other walls being flat and resonant.

14. A structure as specified in claim 10, a plurality of said walls being flat and disposed at angles to reflect the sound Waves at substantially an angle of 15 degrees from one compartment into the next.

15. A structure as specified in claim 10, said walls and compartments being so relatively arranged that the sound waves, in passing from the first compartment into the second compartment, travel at substantially right angles to the direction of travel of the sound waves in passing from the second compartment into the third compartment.

16. A structure as specified in claim 10, the third compartment being in a plane parallel with the common plane of the first and second compartments, said first compartment and said second compartment being disposed in parallel planes passing through said third compartment at right angles to said first mentioned parallel planes.

17. A resonator having a sound chamber comprising a plurality of compartments disposed side by side and connected at their ends to form a continuous passage for the sound waves, with the first and second compartmen'ls side by side in one plane and with the second and third compartments side by side in a plane at right angles to said other plane, and thus relatively arranged to cause the sound waves, in passing from the first compartment to the second compartment in said first plane, to travel substantially at right angles to the direction in which the waves travel in passing from the second compartment into the third compartment in said second plane. I

18. A structure as specified in claim 17, said first and second compartments being disposed in parallel planes passing through the third compartment, and the third compartment being in a plane extending parallel with the common plane of the first and second compartments.

19. A structure as specified in claim 17, the said walls of each compartment being of fiat resilient material, and the interconneciing ends of the compartments being formed by walls of suitable form to reflect the sound waves from one compartment into the next.

20. A structure as specified in claim 17, the sides of each compartment in cross-section being flat, and each compartment being rectangular in cross-section.

21. A resonator comprising means forming three compartments arranged to form a gradually expanding sound passage, the first and second compartments being disposed side by side in one plane, and the second and third compartments being disposed side by side in a plane at right angles to said other plane, the first compartment expanding into the second compartment, the second compartment expanding into the third compartment, and the third compartment expanding toward its outlet end.

22. A resonator comprising means providing successive compartments forming in effoot 2. circuitous sound passage comprising three compartments connected by one or more elbow sections and forming a gradually expanding sound passage from the smaller inlet end thereof to the larger outlet end thereof to the atmosphere, forming an oblong structure, with a single flat wall between the second and third compartments, and with Walls of the second and third compartments forming outer walls of said structure.

23. A structure as specified in claim 22, the first and second compartments being disposed in one and the same plane, and the third and largest compartment and also the second compartment being disposed in another plane extending at right angles to said first mentioned plane.

24. A structure as specified in claim 22, the first and second compartments being disposed in one and the same plane, and the third and largest compartment and also the second compartment being disposed in another plane extending at right angles to said first mentioned plane, the outlet end portion of said third compartment and the first compartment being in a plane extending parallel with said second mentioned plane.

Specification signed this 27th day of J anuary 1926.

ELLIS PRENTIGE COLE. 

